Maine Has Changed Its Recycling Rules To Guard Workers From Exposure To COVID-19

MAINE PUBLIC • April 23, 2020

Many Maine communities have pared back or dropped recycling programs in an effort to guard workers from potential exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Some big supermarkets have also curtailed in-store redemption efforts. To accommodate these moves, Gov. Janet Mills has issued an executive order designed to encourage public and worker safety in waste-handling programs. Among other things, it allows recyclables to be burned at waste-to-energy plants — and still count those recyclables towards the state's goal of 50-percent recycling. It's worrying environmentalists. Sarah Nichols, the "Sustainable Maine" director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, says counting the incineration of materials towards recycling sends a bad message.